The present-tense ending -s (or -es) is used on a verb if its subject is third-person singular (he, she, it, and singular nouns); otherwise the verb takes no ending. Consider, for example, the present-tense forms of the verb give.
SINGULAR |
PLURAL |
|
FIRST PERSON |
I give |
we give |
SECOND PERSON |
you give |
you give |
THIRD PERSON |
he/she/it gives |
they give |
|
Yolanda gives |
parents give |
The verb be varies from this pattern; it has special forms in both the present and the past tense.
|
PRESENT-TENSE FORMS OF BE |
PAST-TENSE FORMS OF BE |
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
I am |
we are |
I was |
we were |
|
you are |
you are |
you were |
you were |
|
he/she/it is |
they are |
he/she/it was |
they were |